Most contemporary foundation garments employ an elastic material having a unidirectional "true" elongation. This true stretch results from the elastomer in the material being laid in only a single line so that the stretch of the garment occurs along this line or direction. Contemporary foundation garment manufacturers have generally attempted to determine the most critical need with respect to the direction of stretch and construct the foundation garments based on that evaluation.
However, any single direction of stretch must be a compromise to the true requirements of the wearer. These requirements include a garment that fits the stationary figure and gives a thin appearance in the abdominal and buttock areas. Such conventional garments act only to compress or squeeze the body without accounting for the motion of the body and the particular deposition of fatty tissues.
Some prior art foundation garments have attempted to overcome the various requirements for stretch. Such foundation garments are disclosed in the following patents: French Pat. No. 2,002,970 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,199,442 to Mayonnade et al; 2,327,310 to Lewis; 3,221,750 to Blair; 2,608,688 to Leonard; 3,507,286 to Salisky; 3,142,302 to Schonberg and 2,745,103 to Van Horne. Each of these patents discloses a foundation garment that is comprised of a number of panels that are joined together. The Mayonnade patent connects some elastic panels with others that are more rigid. The Lewis patent teaches the use of the superimposition of rigid material directly on the elastic material so as to limit stretch in various directions on the garment. The Leonard patent discloses a plurality of tapered panels having a single line of stretch in each panel. The Salisky patent discloses overlapping various panels to increase the thickness at different points at a location where the least stretch is needed. The Blair patent also discloses a number of "control" and "release" areas so as to control the stretch at various body locations. The Schonberg patent discloses a main body fabric having a two-way stretch material with several V-shaped bands of longitudinal stretch material. The Van Horne patent discloses a girdle that has folds of the material sewn together to give added effect in certain areas. The French patent discloses an undergarment comprised of a plurality of panels connected to each other where the stretch of each panel is unidirectional and the direction of stretch is supposedly oriented in the same direction as the underlying muscular structure. However, none of these patents discloses the need for having a foundation garment made of a plurality of panels having unidirectional lines of stretch that extend in the direction of movement of the underlying body parts.